Tag: infosec

Feds Will Not Charge Good Faith Security Research Under the CFAA

On May 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice directed prosecutors to not charge security researchers who report cybersecurity vulnerabilities in “good faith” with violations of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The DOJ’s press release titled Department of Justice Announces New Policy for Charging Cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act…

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Why does cyber warfare involving Russia and Ukraine increase the risk of cyberattacks against your business?

There are many reasons why the ongoing cyber warfare involving Russia and Ukraine increases the risk of cyberattacks against your business, but, one of the simplest explanations comes from a recent joint FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cybersecurity Advisory (Destructive Malware Targeting Organizations in Ukraine) that was published on February 26, 2022:…

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StopRansomware.gov – the U.S. Government’s One-Stop Resource for Ransomware

The U.S. Government has launched a new resource to help combat the ransomware pandemic. Below is the relevant information it has shared: The U.S. Government launched a new website to help public and private organizations defend against the rise in ransomware cases. StopRansomware.gov is a whole-of-government approach that gives one central location for ransomware resources…

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MFA Could Have Prevented the Ransomware Attack on Colonial Pipeline, According to its CEO

On June 8, 2021, Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount testified to a U.S. Senate committee about the recent ransomware attack on the company. While most of the attention to his testimony has been focused on the propriety of paying the roughly $4.4 million ransom payment to the DarkSide hacking group, I believe there is a…

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Ransomware Attacks! The 5 Best Practices the White House Urges all Businesses to Take to Mitigate Them

The threat of ransomware attacks against all American businesses is so great that on June 2, 2021, the White House issued a memo to all corporate executives and business leaders with the subject “What We Urge You To Do To Protect Against The Threat of Ransomware.” This is the first time such a memo has ever been…

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Working From Home During COVID-19? Five Things You Should be Doing–But Probably Are Not–To Be More Cyber Secure (publication)

Many thanks to the Texas Bar Journal for publishing my recent article, Working From Home During COVID-19? Five Things You Should be Doing–But Probably Are Not–To Be More Cyber Secure, in the Cybersecurity Issue: Without an understanding of the particular organization or the unique risks it faces, it is impossible to know what is best or…

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The Art of Cybersecurity: How Sun Tzu Masterminded the FireEye / US Agencies / SolarWinds Cyberattacks

Sun Tzu taught that, when it comes to the art of cybersecurity, you must be wary of your business partners and other third parties. Why? Unless you are living under a rock, you should have heard that FireEye–perhaps the preeminent cybersecurity firm on the face of the planet–was the victim of a successful cyberattack. So…

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***URGENT*** MEMO TO: “The IT Guy” RE: Securing RDP Access–Changing the RDP Port Does Not Work!

***URGENT MEMORANDUM*** TO:   “The IT Guy” FROM:   Your clients’ Incident Response Coach SUBJECT:   Securing RDP Access–Changing the RDP Port Does Not Work! This Memo comes out of necessity, please take it seriously. I have now lost track of how many times over the past couple of months I have been on “scoping calls” with a…

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Simple Mistakes – Not Always “The Hackers” – Can Cause Substantial Data Breaches

It is not always the feared and dreaded “hackers” that cause the exposure and breach of confidentiality of sensitive personal information. Sometimes it’s just simple mistakes, but the consequences can be much the same. Consider this situation: NTreatment inadvertently exposed thousands of medical records online by neglecting to add password protection to one of its…

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